Guest Post: Seabury Resources for Aging

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Since 1924, Seabury Resources for Aging has provided personalized, affordable services and housing options to help older adults in the greater Washington, DC area live with independence and dignity. Offering 355 units of the most affordable senior housing around, Seabury is dedicated to low-income seniors and those in need of assisted living in Greater Washington. Its retirement community has served over 1,200 seniors in 35 years and offers volunteer opportunities, activities, meals and even a hair salon for residents.

The following post comes from Seabury’s blog — check it out and learn about a great way to give back to the community through in-kind giving. This post was written by Monise W. Quidley, CFRE, the Director of Development for Seabury Resources for Aging.

Got Gifts?

The other day I was cleaning out my closet and garage (one of those must-do New Year’s resolution things) and was pretty amazed at some of the things I found. There were the usual suspects, the things with stains and that were broken, things “toooooo” small, things outdated, and those other things I just didn’t like or want. But what was so surprising, in the middle of all of the mess, I was finding lots of loot that still had tags and/or were brand new in the box items. Once looked at and never used items in pristine condition.

I guess in my best “thank you for the gift”, “this is exactly what I wanted”, “oh how beautiful” spirit, I had planned to re-gift some of those items. Nice things, just not necessarily for me. While taking a break, and drinking some sweet iced tea, it dawned on me. I can put these new, in the box, never been used gifts to a good use. I would give them to my favorite charity.

Most nonprofits have a great need for such things to use with and for their clients and staff as well as creating a beautiful basket for their silent auction or banquet event. So I decided I would start with Seabury and donate some of my findings, perfumes, baskets, art work, purses, cutlery, vases, and jewelry to name a few to our upcoming Leadership in Aging Celebration on June 6th. Can’t wait to see how nice my items will look all dressed up and ready to be auctioned. This is a terrific way to help a charity and also get credit for an in-kind donation which is tax-deductible.

Maybe my New Year’s resolution will inspire you (and your family and friends) to consider donating some of your brand new and stuck in-the-back-of-the-closet items to your favorite charity. If you would like to help Seabury Resources for Aging, please send me an email (mquidley@seaburyresources.org) and I’ll make the most of your unwanted items by giving them new life and making someone else happy during the silent and live auctions at our reception. Remember, one man or woman’s trash is another man or woman’s treasure!

As mentioned in Seabury’s blog post, in kind donations can be used for Seabury’s Leadership in Aging Celebration on June 6th. The Seabury Leadership in Aging Celebration is Seabury’s signature event featuring the presentation of this year’s recipients of the Seabury Leadership in Aging Awards. The Awards are given to honor outstanding service to older adults in the greater Washington, DC area and nationally.

Previous honorees include Stuart Rosenthal, publisher and editor of The Beacon Newspapers, The Medical House Call Program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; David N. Gamse, Executive Director, Jewish Council for the Aging; Steve Gurney, Founder and Publisher, Guide to Retirement Living SourceBook; Vera Waltman Mayer, Coordinator Emeritus of the DC Long Term Care Coalition; Dr. J.C. Hayward, Vice President for Media Outreach, WUSA9TV to name a few.

For more information on volunteering or donating to nonprofits like Seabury that serve the elderly, check out Catalogue’s online catalogue here.

In The News …

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Plan to close VA institutions stokes worry for families of the developmentally disabled (Washington Post): “Virginia is among the last states to begin dismantling its large institutions for the developmentally disabled, a decision that was made as part of a year-old settlement agreement with the Justice Department [...] All but one of the commonwealth’s five training centers, as the state calls them, are to be shuttered by 2020.” Judith Korf, the mother of a resident of the Northern Virginia Training Center, points out that “I think the past has shown that [the training center] is the only thing that works.” While Virginia officials remain “confident that the training centers’ residents can be properly cared for in the community, [..] there is deep concern that the state is rushing the process to meet unrealistic, arbitrary closure deadlines.”

Leaders of metro counties urge Congress to act on budget (Gazette: Prince George’s): “Impending federal sequestration could damage the fiscal stability of Maryland’s metro counties and leaders of those counties are urging congressional action [...] county executives Isiah Leggett, Rushern L. Baker III and Kenneth S. Ulman gathered Tuesday to call on Congress to compromise and stop sequestration.” Montgomery County executive Leggett argued that “the the federal job loss piece alone could cost the county as much as $500,000 a day in local income tax revenue” for his county and Prince George’s county executive Baker “said about 10 percent of Prince George’s jobs are federal.”

Gates, Buffett push Giving Pledge international (Seattle Times): “British billionaire and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and his wife Joan are among the newest philanthropists who have pledged to give away half their wealth to charity.” This year, the Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett-initiated Giving Pledge, has grown to include “its first international members, including 12 wealthy individuals and couples from Russia, South Africa, Australia, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and Malaysia.” Since 2010, over 100 individuals and families have signed the Pledge.

Around Town: February 15-17

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Happy day-after Valentine’s Day! We certainly heart our local nonprofits …

Dance Place (3225 8th Street NE)

SpeakeasyDC returns to Dance Place to celebrate Valentine’s Day though hilarious and moving true stories about romance, relationships, and sex. Nab “Sucker for Love” tickets right here; performances on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM.

We Are Family Senior Outreach Network (at Metropolitan Community Church, 474 Ridge Street NW)

Volunteers will help assemble and deliver grocery bags to low-income seniors near North Capitol Street and Shaw on Saturday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Sign up here (scroll down a bit).

Constellation Theatre Company (at Source, 1835 14th Street NW)

Final weekend! Zorro, the masked avenger, is born when quiet, bookish Diego must find a way to fight corruption and injustice. Catch performances on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday at 2:00 PM.

Washington Bach Consort (at National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Avenue NW)

In honor of the 35th Season, and by popular demand, WBC presents “Bach for All Seasons,” all-Bach program built around the “Great Eighteen Chorales” on Sunday at 3:00 PM. Purchase tickets right here.

Growing Your Nonprofit Online

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Google seems to be on the front lines of everything these days. This week, Google hosted a forum on “Getting Your Business Online” in DC — one in a series of small business growth workshops hosted by Google across the country. While the Catalogue and its member nonprofits are not strictly “small businesses”, the growth of small nonprofits mirrors that of small for-profits in many ways. We all struggle with building an online presence and continually spreading the word about our services. (Google also offers special products and services to nonprofits, many at a discount – something worth looking into!)

Catalogue staff attended the workshop on February 12th, and took away some great tips for making the most of our online presence:

- A variety of tools are available online for monitoring who visits your website, where they come from, and which pages they visit most often. While ‘web analytics’ may sound like an intimidating term, tools like Google Analytics and Google Webmaster can break the stats down into digestible nuggets of information that any business owner or nonprofit ED can understand.

- Even if you don’t buy into the Google suite of tools, Google Alerts can help you keep tabs on your unearned online presence. You can create an Alert (for free) that will notify you any time your nonprofit or business name appears on the web — a great way to keep tabs on potential PR hits and misses.

- Google AdWords is one tool that offers special deals for nonprofits — check out Google Grants to apply for free advertising through Google AdWords. If you’re approved, you can create a Google AdWords campaign for free and promote your organization in the ads that pop up at the top of search pages.

Again, whether Google is your online guru of choice or not, staying in tune with the latest trends in online business/nonprofit growth and promotion can have huge benefits for your organization. For more information on resources from Google, as well as registration information for the upcoming GYBO session in Falls Church, VA, check out www.gybo.com/washington-dc/.

In The News …

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DC, advocates at odds over homeless families; 900 people still in shelter (Washington Post): “This winter, the District’s shelter for homeless families at DC General Hospital is crammed full — 372 adults and nearly 600 children [...] City officials say that hard times and the lack of affordable housing in poor neighborhoods are to blame for the continuing crisis of family homelessnes.” Last year, the number of homeless families in the District jumped by 18 percent and advocates argue that DC “is not doing nearly enough to help the neediest residents find permanent housing at a time of budget surplus.” Learn more about Catalogue’s homelessness and housing nonprofits right here.

Class-Divided Cities: Washington, DC Edition (The Atlantic): “More than any other metro we’ve covered, greater Washington, DC is a creative class region [...] These are high-skilled, highly-educated, and high-paying positions where workers average $90,442 in wages and salaries, fourth highest in the nation [...] Still, the class divide in the region is pronounced. The creative class is concentrated in the center of the metro, as the map shows.” A map charting the geography of class in the region shows a concentration of the creative class to the west and service to the east, yet almost no clusters of working class residents, implying that “Greater Washington is a fully post-industrial region.” Explore the interactive maps right here.

Tech’s new entrepreneurial approach to philanthropy (USA Today): “The intersection of technology and philanthropy is creating “philanthrocapitalism,” borrowing ideas from venture capitalism to fund non-profits.” For example, “NFS [Not For Sale], a model of [eBay founder Pierre] Omidyars’ brand of philanthropy, is based loosely on a venture-capital firm’s approach. And it is quickly becoming a powerful agent for social change, as eBay was for commerce.” Says Suzanne DiBianca, the co-founder and president of the Salesforce.com Foundation, “Companies are beginning to understand their power in leveraging their assets to non-profits [...] It’s not just throwing a check over a wall.”

Nonprofit Boost

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On Sunday, the Washington Post inquired: “Can nonprofit organizations boost a regional economy?”

The impact of a nonprofit is frequently gauged by the reach and effectiveness of its services. But beyond their power to help and support a community, can these organizations provide fuel to rev a regional economy?

In Montgomery County, at least, a new report concludes that nonprofit groups have indeed played an important role in boosting the labor market and the broader economy [...] The report shows that nonprofit workers in Montgomery comprise 10 percent of the county’s labor force and earned a collective $2.2 billion in wages in 2011.

Funded by Nonprofit Montgomery, an affiliate of the Nonprofit Roundtable, the study also “found that the county’s nonprofits have $4 billion in purchasing power” and that they showed considerable resilience during the recession, posting an increase in sector employees from 2007 to 2011 — a period during which the overall number of employees in the county dropped.

Similarly, the study revealed that local nonprofits can fuel economic recovery indirectly as well. For example, adult literacy services enable residents to “qualify for a job, fill out an application or even simply navigate the bus system, all of which can boost one’s chances of earning wages.” And arts and culture nonprofits can direct consumers to nearby restaurants, retail stores, and even parking garages.

What are the other key byproducts of a healthy nonprofit sector? Share your thoughts with us.

Writing Muscle

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“A book is a wonderful present. Though it may grow worn, it will never grow old.”

“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”

– American writer and editor Jane Yolen, born today in 1939

Around Town: February 8-10

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Spend an hour or two with a Catalogue nonprofit, such as …

Dance Place (3225 8th Street NE)

Join the Dance Place Step Team for Step It Up DC on Friday at 8:00 PM — special step workshops and an informal performance, open to all ages. Buy tickets right here.

We Are Family Senior Outreach Network (474 Ridge Street NW)

Volunteers will receive a brief orientation and then go out in pairs or groups to visit isolated, low-income seniors in their homes on Saturday at 10:00 AM. Sign up this way!

Joy of Motion Dance Center (Jack Guidone Theater @ 5207 Wisconsin Avenue NW)

Youth Dance Project introduces creative and exciting new works from the region’s choreographers under the age of 18 this coming Saturday at 8:00 PM. Nab your tickets here.

Coming Soon:

Audubon Naturalist Society (Dolley Madison Library, 1244 Oak Ridge Ave, McLean, VA)

Kevin Ambrose, photographer and blogger for the Capital Weather Gang, will discuss “Washington’s Winters” at an ANS Members’ Meeting on Tuesday at 7:00 PM. RSVP to shsprenke@gmail.com.

Iona Senior Services (4125 Albemarle Street NW)

Join Executive Director Sally White for a cup of coffee, thought-provoking conversation, and a tour of Iona’s Breckinridge Buildling on Wednesday at 9:00 AM.

Catalogue Financial Workshops

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We are officially half way through the application window for the 2013 Catalogue for Philanthropy! Over the past few weeks, the Catalogue has partnered with the accounting firm (and Catalogue supporter) Raffa to offer financial workshops on the financial supplement part of our application. The workshops covered the details of the financial supplement and offered suggestions on how to best present financial information, especially for small nonprofits with unique financial pictures. Representatives from over 100 nonprofits attended the workshops, held on January 29th and February 6th, and took away helpful tips on issues ranging from reporting on in-kind donations and services, allocating costs between fundraising and programming, and correctly calculating administrative costs.

The Catalogue for Philanthropy’s review process differs from many other reviews through watchdog sites and others, in that we consider a nuanced view of each application, in both the programmatic and financial review. As Tom Raffa, CEO of Raffa and Catalogue Board Member, pointed out during the workshops, our review is meant to not only select “some of the best” small nonprofits in DC, but also help those still growing to become stronger and more sustainable through our feedback. We encourage all applicants to include additional information when appropriate to explain “red flags” — high ratios of G&A, fundraising, or salaries to total expenses, or a high percentage of revenue coming from government grants.

Even if you missed the workshop, the Catalogue’s APPLY website includes plenty of information about the financial (and narrative) application — and feel free to reach out to us (info@cfp-dc.org) with questions. Remember, applications are due on Monday, February 25th…and we can still use your help in spreading the word!